Infant&#39;s garment



y 1948- N. c. OSWALD 2,441,900

INFANT S GARMENT Filed Sept. 5, 1945 nw/mroe:

/1 //1 4 6. OSWALD Patcnted May 18, 1948 UNITED STATES e 4.

INFANTS GARMENT Nina o. oswaldg-New York, N. Y.

Application September 5, 1945, Serial No. 614,489

i Glaims. 1.

This invention relates to child'rens garments and particularly to outer garments for covering babies and young children when in bed, in baby carriages, in automobiles, and the like. In general,,it.is an object of the invention to provide an improved garment which may be safely and effectively used in placeof a blanket to cover a small'child, but which will be impossible for him to throw off. A more specific object is the provisionofa sleeping garment which provides within it a wide latitude for. legandbody movement but which at the same time fully protects the arms while leaving the hands free from the entangling folds of the blanket. V I

Everyone who has cared for babies knows the dimculties involved in preventing them from throwing off their blankets, and can hardly have helped noticing the frustrationof the children in trying to turn or otherwise move when. their covers are pinned down. Also apparent is the f:

difiiculty' in the use of a childs hands unless the whole arm is exposed. Ordinarycovers are, more over, always a source of danger of smothering, due to tendencies of babies to crawl under them.

Innumerable efforts have been-made in the 1' to solve these problems but they have all fallen short of attainment of a solution. For the most part. if proper covering was effected movement has been too restricted in one or more respects; or if movement was permitted, coveringwas ineffective. If both factors were taken into'con sid eration, the arms or hands of the wearer were insufliciently protected or unduly restricted.

With the foregoing and other considerations in view, there is provided. in accordance with the present invention a garment which allows the wearer freedom for practically all types of twisting, stretching, rolling, reaching, grasping and kicking movements, while fully protecting his body, arms, and legs at all times. Preferably in many instances the garment is so formed as to leave the hands of the wearer free, permitting him to readily feed or entertain himself; and garments embodying the invention in its more specific aspects are provided with an openable closure at their lower ends, permitting ready access to the interior of the garment by those taking care of the child.

The invention accordingly comprises an article of manufacture possessing the features, properties, and the relation of elements which will be exemplified in the article hereinafter described and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be had to the followingdetailed description taken in condrawing,

' with the upper leftehand portion of Fig. l and "arms of a child for whomit is intended.

illustrating, other modifications.

An important feature of the invention is the provision of a body portion which is wider than f the, distance between the out-stretched elbows of a wearer whose wri'stsare encircled by sleeve portions extending laterally from the body portion. In. the garment exemplified in Fig. l, the body portion sis of such width throughout its length to extend outwardly a greater distance than the elbows 5' ofa child of the size indicated in. the dotted lineswhose wrists l are encircled by sleeve portions 8. In the present instance, the garment is formed of two superposed substanti ll'y rectangular pieces El and lilof material, for instance flannel, having a Width slightly greater than the distance from wrist to wrist of the outstretched sirably, the two pieces may be a single unit folded over at the top at H, Stitching l2 joins the pieces at their side edges except at the upper portion where wrist openings E3 are provided. Stitching it extends inwardly from these openf ings to provide the sleeves 8. A neck opening is provided at l5, and, in accordance With the invention in its more specific aspects, there is pro vided in the upper or forward piece a central slit iii which may be opened to remove the child or to adiust his nighty. This slit may be closed by any suitable means such, for instance, as the zipper ll exemplified. As above indicated, the distance While, pursuant to the invention in certain of 7 its broader aspects, the bottom of the garment may be left open, it is ordinarily closed to prevent the garment from riding up on the wearer with consequent exposure of his feet or legs, Accordingly, there are provided buttons I9 or other suitable fastening means such for example as the zipper 20 indicated in Fig. 2.

Desirably a wide binding of soft material, as for example rayon, is provided at the free edges of the openings of the garment as at 21, 22 and Z3.

While it is usually advantageous to let the hands of the child protrude from the wrist openings, the garment may be continued outwardly to provide bagged ends or mittens as indicated at 24 in Fig. 3. Even in this case the child has considerable use of his hands. I

As will be apparent various modificationsmay be made without departing from the invention in its broader aspects. For example, the material of which the garment is formed may be cut to provide a somewhat narrower body portion with protruding sleeves, the body portion being nevertheless sulficiently wide to extend beyond the elbows of the outstretched arms of a child whose wrists are encircled by the sleeves 25, as shown in Fig. 4.

The form exemplified in Fig. 1, however, not only has the advantage of permitting the child to have his hands entirely free so that he may readily hold his bottle or entertain himself as with a rattle but the provision of the sleeves 8 prevents the child from easily pulling his hand into the interior of the garment where it will be imprisoned.

Garments formed in accordance with the invention will fit equally well over nightgowns or pajamas. The child can sleep in any position, on his stomach, side or back; and can change his position at will. Moreover, with the bottom of the garment open, the child can stand or walk about in his crib and still be completely covered.

The garment accordingly provides a highly satisfactory solution to the problem of providing an effective and convenient outer covering for a child who is being taken for an airing or who is quietly playing, as well as for a sleeping child.

What I claim is:

1. A childs garment having short sleeve-like portions and a roomy body portion extending laterally to points substantially in line with the ends with said sleeve-like portions and outwardly of the elbows of a wearer whose wrists are to encircle a wearers hands whenwithdrawn thru said openings.

3. A, childs garment comprising two superposed portions of material so joined at the top as to provide aneck opening and at their sides as to provide hand openings, and joined for a distance inwardly of the lower end of each hand opening to provide short sleeve portions above the line of jointure so that the sleeve portions thus provided will still encircle the childs hands when withdrawn thru said openings, and a roomy body portion extending in a downward direction from the outstretched lines of jointure and the space intermediate the same, said portions of material extending continuously across said lines of jointure.

4. A childs garment as set forth in claim 3 wherein there is provided an openable closure at the lower end of the body portion.

NINA C. OSWAID.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of recordin the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 906,551 Newman Dec. 15, 1908 1,370,009 Ehrenberg Mar. 1, 1921 1,701,929 Mettam Feb. 12, 1929 1,929,263 Sork Oct. 3, 1933 2,130,771 Mann Sept. 20, 1938 2,250,750 Cole July 29,1941

FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 210,068 Switzerland Aug. 16, 1940 219,458 Great Britain July 31, 1924 505,708 Great Britain May 16, 1939 

